Wine studies

I started to “study” wine when we lived in London and I first attended a WSET – Wine and Spirits Education Trust class. It was level 1 and pretty basic back then and I remember being in class and one of the other students said that they were smelling dentist chair in the wine. I thought it was absurd and wondered whether there was any merit to studying wine. This was almost twenty years ago. As the years passed I turned to other pursuits but here and there took wine classes such as the International Sommelier Guild levels 1 and 2. This was the only course offered in Seattle where I lived at the time. It was taught by a fantastic teacher who went on to become a Master Sommelier. After that course, I entered law school and my wine studies went by the wayside until we moved to New York City where I found the International Wine Center that offered WSET courses through the diploma level. So I began my studies anew. Since then I have passed Level 2, Level 3 and am now in the diploma program. The WSET classes, in my opinion, are more focused on people who want to write about wine than those who want to work as a sommelier serving in a restaurant. This is because there is no service element in the courses as there is in the Master Sommelier program. If you are in the New York area and want to take some classes I highly recommend this school.

I follow a lot of Masters of Wine on Instagram and Twitter and I find it interesting their back and forth about wine critics, wine writing, wine analysis and I continue to be fascinated with wine knowledge. I do often consider how much does the general public care about all of this wine information and the answer is probably not that much. But, every time you board a plane and have a decent glass of wine, or go into a restaurant and find a bottle you adore, it’s because someone has taken the time to educate themselves on wine and impart that knowledge to the airline or the restaurant. Or perhaps they have taken the time to write a book that others can use to further their own knowledge. Will my continued wine studies allow me to move into a career in wine, who knows but what I do know is that it will keep me on my toes when it comes to the wine world and it can only benefit me when I end up getting my own vineyard and start making wine.

So hopefully you will join me as I continue my wine journey and share my experiences learning about growing grapes, and making and drinking wine, through my blog worldwineview.

One final note, I am moving from a Typepad host to a WordPress host and it may take me some time to get things looking good. Bear with me!